DH and I, but especially I, have been more sick than not this past year. DD and I usually get the worst of it, but she shakes things more quickly, and I spend literally weeks with a cold every time I get one and basically have to spend a couple days flat on my back in order to kick it (but it still lingers).

We've got gym memberships now (mine is on hold until after baby, but I am doing yoga) and are active on a daily basis (bike, walk most places) which seems to help.

I notice that more than a tiny bit of dairy, and too many simple carbs, make things worse, and I was wondering about the feasibility of such diets. Especially since we live in bread- and-dairy land here! Was just talking to a friend and she admitted that she cooks using cream for almost every meal...!

DH's breakfast consists of bread (usually whole grain organic) with honey and cheese (yes, I know...) and TONS of sugar in his coffee. In his case, I think cutting back on sugar and the white bread products he gets when he shops would help. I eat better than him (less snacks, junk, sugar, more whole grains) but am sick more often! We do eat a lot of homemade (whole grain) pizzas and noodles with sauce just cause we are both incredibly busy - hard to cook tasty and nutritious food every evening.

One of my issues is the cost of eating meat with every meal (cost, health issues). We like tofu and fake meat products, too - those are presumably out?

The other is what to eat for breakfast (DD and I eat oatmeal) - I would prefer a savory breakfast to a sweet one, but time and ingredients are the difficulty.

The last issue is with finding ingredients and trying a lifestyle that does not fit with the culture surrounding us. Many things that are commonplace in the USA are hard to find here, and, as I said before, heavy-animal-fat food is normal (I make a lot of stir fries and curries when I can), but fresh/steamed veggies are not. A lot of the dietary information here seems behind the USA.

I am just wondering how much of a committment such a diet would be, and if it would really help boost my immune system, and if it is possible to just be less strict about it, i.e. some whole grains etc.

Part of my problem is just finding more healthy recipes that I can make with the time and energy I have and the resources available...

I would strongly suggest Mark's Daily Apple, especially his start here page. It is by far the best and easiest reference for primal eating (paleo, but not extremely strict - it's more about finding the fit for you) online, in my opinion.

Breakfast for me is overeasy eggs, which are pretty easy to cook. A good idea is to make an egg casserole/frittata like this one when you do have time and just cut slices out to eat for the next few days. Another thing you can do is eat leftovers - I did this a lot when I lived in Korea and the eggs made me sick.

Heavy animal fat food is something you'll be wanting to eat on a primal/paleo diet because fat will become a much larger portion of your diet to replace the carbs (grains and sugar) you'll no longer be eating. Veggies are important - can you get frozen?

I think any step toward paleo will improve your health, but the biggest thing would be to go gluten/wheat-free, so no whole wheat. Primal is okay with some rice in some situations - I've improved a ton still eating rice and corn, but never any gluten/wheat/oats.

Mark's Daily Apple has a ton of great recipes! Good luck and feel free to ask more questions. I'd be happy to talk more.

I guess when I changed my way of eating, it turned out to be a modified Paleo. All I know is, 50 pounds lighter since May 18, 2012, it's working.

I cut out 95% of my bread intake, 95% of Dairy (I cook with sour cream sometimes and sometimes eat low fat cottage cheese, but NO cheese at all) and ALL processed sugar. I use Splenda in my coffee.

I get water flavorings called MIO , my faves are Black Cherry and Tangerine Orange. The BC has caffeine, B6,B12 and ginseng in it. I drink about 40 ounces MORE water a day using this stuff.

Cookies, cakes, etc., are out. I didn't have a birthday cake this year, that's how dedicated I've become. BECAUSE I can eat almost anything else I choose. A piece of fried chicken with the skin on, mashed taters with sour cream, lots of veggies (a lot of times frozen ones), fruit (apples, grapes, bananas *2 a day*, melon. I limit starches. Pasta I can have, once in a while. I don't mind doing without pasta because now it makes me bloat a bit. If I eat any bread it's either an occasional english muffin or a white hot dog bun using jewish hotdogs (all beef).

A regular dinner item for me when Cyk is at work is Gorton's cod lightly breaded baked fish fillets with home made tartar sauce, half a baked potato and either a small salad or some microwaved mixed frozen veggies. Breakfast is usually just a banana and a LARGE cup of coffee, but sometimes I have an english muffin with the banana. But then I notice that I get hungrier much faster before lunch arrives.

We eat a lot of cold shrimp, lots of beef, chicken, pork. I don't eat tofu. I had some thick sliced peppered bacon that I needed to cook before it turned, so I cooked seven slices, gave Cyk 3.5 slices and I scrambled myself two eggs in the microwave and ate the bacon. I still lost a pound that week.

I have gained an enormous amount of weight in the last two years, so I'm just now getting to the point to where I'm back down in size 14/16 from size 22. I'm also not exercising (health thing) other than Fibro stretches and core breathing exercises.

I found a strict paleo diet incredibly hard to follow- however I am allergic to some of the big things to eat in that diet (pork, chicken, eggs, almonds etc). I remember before I had allergies that I felt really good cutting out sugars and dairy.
You could try to implement parts of the diet slowly, and decide what you can do and what you won't do?

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LHC Member since Sep 2011, 2,919 posts and counting!

I've been slowly moving my family over to a more paleo-oriented diet. I don't know how I will give up pastas and grains, though, because I adore freshly-baked breads. I will give other types of flour a try, like coconut flour, though. I've also seen recipes that call for pasta made from zucchini and the like, so I'm really interested in that!

We've already switched over to coconut and almond milk, and everyone in my home seems to be enjoying it! Nobody seems to have noticed that I stopped buying corn, cereal and oatmeal, which I find amusing, because the kids are used to eating a lot of those things. I've mainly been introducing new dishes that are higher in protein, so I guess they are distracted by all of that.

I'd like to try to find some way to get rid of these massive headaches and get more energy. I feel like I've tried everything else, so maybe cutting processed foods out of my diet will do the trick. I figure it can't hurt!

I'm going to stick in another vote for Mark's daily apple - it was the best resource when I was starting out and has loads of interesting stuff.

I've been paleo for about 6 weeks now I think, I felt like I had the flu after a few days while my body re-adjusted, but since then I've felt great. Converting to paleo has cured my terrible insomnia and I think it has helped my depression too (although it is harder to pinpoint causes for that).

I'm not incredibly strict, I still eat some potatoes and some sweetcorn and I have a lot of dairy. I think a lot of people who have problems with dairy find that it's because of hormones in it (unless they are allergic or lactose intolerant of course). In the EU this sort of hormone use is not allowed, and i find that dairy is very important in my diet for getting enough fat.

The big thing for me seems to be avoiding grain, and most importantly gluten. If I have just one portion of gluten containing food I'm back to not sleeping and sometimes it also makes me feel sick (something it never did before paleo). If I'm eating out and paleo is not easy, I usually go for dishes which have potato or rice as the carb portion and I'm ok to do that every once in a while.

A typical breakfast for me is a large glass of milk, a banana, almonds and sunflower seeds. A typical lunch might be homemade, thick soup or omlette with some meat (cold ham or chicken maybe) and some fruit and veg (i LOVE raw carrots!).

I still have a spoonful of sugar in my cups of tea and i have dark chocolate, but that's generally the extent of my refined sugar intake. I find it easy to avoid refined sugar when im not eating cake or biscuits

You can make oatmeal be savory - add black pepper and cheese and a bit of salt instead of all the sugar. It's my go-to breakfast. I also cook my oatmeal with plenty of dry milk powder, to increase the protein and calcium.